Inspecting the walls of our day - Nehemiah 2:11-20

Nehemiah Views the Wall of Jerusalem

11 So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days. 12 Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me; I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem; nor was there any animal with me, except the one on which I rode. 13 And I went out by night through the Valley Gate to the Serpent Well and the Refuse Gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were burned with fire. 14 Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King’s Pool, but there was no room for the animal under me to pass. 15 So I went up in the night by the valley, and viewed the wall; then I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned. 16 And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done; I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the others who did the work.

17 Then I said to them, “You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach.” 18 And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king’s words that he had spoken to me.

So they said, “Let us rise up and build.” Then they set their hands to this good work.

19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they laughed at us and despised us, and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?”

20 So I answered them, and said to them, “The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem.”

The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ne 2:11–20.

• After a long journey Nehemiah rests, quietly inspects Jerusalem's ruined walls and burned gates, and learns the true extent of the damage before announcing a plan.
• The blocked route, accumulated rubble, unusable refuse and fountain gates, and exposed city show that restoration requires honest assessment rather than denial.
• Nehemiah names the distress, testifies to God's favorable hand and the king's authorization, and summons the people to rise and build together.
• Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem mock and accuse the builders, but Nehemiah answers with confidence that the God of heaven will prosper his servants.
• The sermon calls for inspection of the church's teaching, family discipleship, repentance, evangelism, fellowship, and dependence on Christ rather than personalities.
• It also directs each believer to inspect prayer, Scripture, relationships, thought patterns, speech, integrity, and remaining sin and then rebuild on Christ the cornerstone.

• Where have I preferred a reassuring assumption to an honest inspection of damage?
• What do the patterns of prayer, Scripture, worship, repentance, and fellowship reveal about the present condition of my faith?
• Have I become accustomed to a sin's presence instead of removing its refuse?
• What teaching, entertainment, or habit is poisoning the sources from which my mind drinks?
• Does church ministry bring people to Christ's living water and God's Word or chiefly to a personality and self-help?
• Am I neglecting embodied fellowship and the scriptural duties believers owe one another?
• What specific rebuilding work should follow the damage I can now name?

Inspection

A deliberate and honest examination of damage, weakness, habit, or doctrine before deciding what restoration requires.

Reproach

Public disgrace associated with Jerusalem's ruin and the apparent vulnerability of God's covenant people.

Repentance

Turning from exposed sin and removing it rather than becoming accustomed to its presence and effects.

Fellowship

The mutual life in which Christians encourage, build, guard, and serve one another instead of attempting faith alone.

Living water

Christ and his saving grace as the true source of refreshment to which church ministry must bring people.